


Teddys, Rivs and Memories

by dsa_archivist



Category: due South
Genre: Alternate Universe, Drama, Gen, Humor, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 1999-04-26
Updated: 1999-04-26
Packaged: 2018-11-11 02:41:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,325
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11139525
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dsa_archivist/pseuds/dsa_archivist
Summary: Note from Speranza, the archivist: this story was once archived atDue South Archive. To preserve the archive, I began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project in June 2017. I tried to reach out to all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address onDue South Archive collection profile.





	Teddys, Rivs and Memories

**Author's Note:**

> Note from Speranza, the archivist: this story was once archived at [Due South Archive](http://fanlore.org/wiki/Due_South_Archive). To preserve the archive, I began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project in June 2017. I tried to reach out to all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on [Due South Archive collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/duesoutharchive).

Teddys, Riv's & Memories  


## Teddys, Riv's & Memories

  
by Red Skye  
=====================  
[A.R] F/M E/R  
  
NOTES:  
        -This is Ray's thoughts-  
        =This is Fraser's  
thoughts=  
        [Welsh's  
thoughts]  
        {Elaine's  
thoughts}  
        *equals  
emphasis*  
  
        Someone brought up the  
idea of a certain ex-civilian  
aide possibly having a thing for  
Ray. This morning, I  
thought I'd take that idea and run with it, and see where it  
went.  
This is the result. (yes, I did write the whole thing  
in one day.)  
  


  |   | *~~~~~~~~~~*ooOO0=@=0OOoo*~~~~~~~~~~*   
---|---|---  
  
  
        It happened so fast no  
had a chance to react fast  
enough to stop it happening. Ray was  
walking past a desk  
where two surly miscreants were standing, while their  
details were being read out and checked. They're hands were  
cuffed  
behind their backs and no one noticed the more agile  
of the pair  
tinkering with the cuffs with a sharp lock  
picking tool he'd had tucked up his sleeve. Dief was trying  
to  
get the Jelly Doughnut the Italio-American cop was  
teasing him with and jumped up giving Ray a push with his  
paws, Ray back stepped, and one of the miscreants struck  
out, his foot slamming into the back of Ray's knee. Ray went  
down,  
the doughnut went flying and Dief went after it.  
        Ray's head impacted with  
the hard floor and the breath  
gushed out of his body. His startled  
cry attracted  
attention, and no one noticed the miscreant lift the gun of  
the  
officer at his side. But they noticed when his fellow  
miscreant body tackled the officer away. The gun swung  
around and a shot was fired. People started diving under  
desks, pulling out guns.  
        The next thing Ray was  
aware of was a pounding in his  
head, a throbbing in his leg, and  
that he couldn't draw in  
another breath. There was shouting going on and Diefenbaker  
was  
growling.  
        He opened his eyes wincing  
and wished he hadn't as he  
realised why it was so hard to breath.  
Someone was standing  
over him, a foot on his throat, aiming a gun  
at him.  
        "Call the mutt off  
or I'll blow his dumb head off."  
        "That  
mutt is a wolf and he's rather attached to  
Detective Vecchio,"  
Ray heard Fraser say. "He's also deaf,  
so he can't hear anyone  
telling him to stop doing what comes  
quite naturally to him, protecting  
his pack mate."  
        Gun or no gun, if that  
foot wasn't moved he'd be a dead  
man. He wanted to throw up, to  
draw breath, either, but he  
couldn't do either. Ray tried to pull that foot away, but it  
just  
pushed down harder and his body arched as the blackness  
threatened  
to take him down. His body started thrashing, and  
he saw something  
out of the corner of his eye. Movement  
behind the miscreant with the gun, his eyes rolled back and  
he  
couldn't control anything any more as autonomic reflexes  
kicked.  
        "The only way to  
make him stop is to point the gun  
away from Detective Vecchio."  
        "What do you think  
I am? Stupid."  
        "I  
have no idea but your actions are. You are in the  
middle of a police  
station, you are surrounded by armed  
police, who will riddle your body with lead if you don't  
drop your weapon. Then there's Diefenbaker who *will* rip  
your throat out if you don't take your foot of Ray's  
throat."  
        The miscreant froze as  
he felt cold metal touch the  
base of his skull.  
        "I suggest you drop  
the gun, now," Fraser said.  
        "You're  
choice, drop it, or I'll blow your brains out.  
It's called justifiable  
Homicide," Elaine's chilly voice  
said.  
        As the miscreant heard  
her cock the gun she had to his  
head, he let the gun fell from  
his hands. The gun landed on  
Ray's chest before bouncing off and  
Fraser kicked it away.  
Men moved in to drag him away and Fraser dropped to his  
knee's by Ray, Elaine a moment behind, a hand touched his  
throat, another his chest and face.  
         Ray felt a hand slap  
him and his eyes opened, he drew  
in a whistling breath, gagging  
and chocking then he was  
being lifted and turned to throw up, before being drawn up  
into a distinctly feminine embrace. A gentle hand stroked  
his head as his own hands flew to his throat and he  
struggled to drawer in air, shaking like a leaf in reaction.  
        He  
heard his sister's frantic voice from far away,  
telling people  
to get out of her way. He saw Fraser's blue  
eyes so full of concern, staring into his, felt the  
Mountie's hand on his face. His eyes fluttered and closed  
and he sank into that embrace, aware of nothing more than  
the rapid fire beating of the heart under his ear, the scent  
of  
a woman, and gentle rocking.  
        -Mama-  
          


  |   |   |   | *ooOO0)=~=(0OOoo*   
---|---|---|---|---  
  
  
        Ray smiled wanly from  
his hospital bed as Fraser  
approached. Dief stood on his hind legs,  
resting his paws on  
the bed side, a paper sack dangled from his  
jaws and Ray's  
hand fell to scratch his head.  
        "Hiya Dief,"  
Ray greeted the wolf, his voice a raspy  
croak.  
        "He has something  
for you."  
        Ray's  
hand fell to the bag, and Dief released it. Ray's  
other hand travelled  
over the bed, finding the control he  
was after he pressed the button, and the top half of the bed  
rose  
up. He dropped the control and looked into the bag to  
see a Jelly doughnut and gave a raspy little laugh, then  
rewarded Dief with another behind the ears scratch.  
        "Thank-you."  
        Dief dropped back  
down.  
        "How  
are you feeling?"  
        "Much  
better now.. I can breath without that tube in  
my throat."  
        "That's a nice flower  
display who's it from?"  
        Ray  
gave a little shrug.  
        "It  
was there when I woke up this morning."  
        Fraser  
moved to the stand to take a better look at  
them, and fussed with  
them, looking for a card.  
        Then he frowned and touched  
a rose, and leaned closer  
to inhale deeply and laughed.  
        "What are laughing  
at."  
        "You...  
Myself.. Mainly you."  
        "Make  
sense."  
        Fraser  
plucked a flower, a rose from the bunch and then  
handed it to Ray.  
        "Smell that."  
        Ray sniffed, then  
frowned, bringing up his other hand  
to touch the rose.  
        "It's not real."  
        Ray sniffed it and  
a memory returned of being held in a  
woman's arms and gently rocked  
while a soft hand stroked his  
head. The scent was the same scent  
that woman wore.  
        "A display of fake  
flowers like that costs more than a  
display of *real* ones. Because  
these ones die like real  
flowers."  
        "So she brought  
me fake flowers, lots of people do  
that."  
        Fraser sat with a teasing  
smile.  
        "Flowers  
often have a meaning, and it's up to the  
receiver to decipher the  
meaning behind the giver's gift."  
        Ray  
rolled his eyes.  
        "Don't  
roll your eyes at me."  
        A  
buzzer sounded and Fraser rose.  
        "You're  
leaving?"  
        "Visiting  
hours are over. Think about what I said,"  
he said patting  
Ray's arm, then patting his leg.  
        Dief came out from under  
the bed, and followed after  
him.  
        Ray stared after him  
in confusion.  
          


  |   |   |   | *ooOO0)=~=(0OOoo*   
---|---|---|---|---  
  
  
        The worst thing about  
hospitals, Ray thought, as he lay  
on curled up on his side, staring  
at the bedside stand, was  
being woken up at all hours of the night.  
The nurse had just  
come through change his I.V and woken him up.  
Now he was  
wide awake, and bored to death.  
        He couldn't wait to get  
out. Intravenous food sucked.  
He wanted a cup of coffee. Not to  
mention the doughnut in  
the bag on the stand. He smiled as he looked at it, a gift  
like that from Dief meant more than a silly bunch of  
flowers.  
        That reminded him of  
the display of flowers. He  
examined it. Thinking about what Fraser  
had said, and  
stretched out a hand to pick up the flower Fraser had pulled  
free.  
Sniffing it again, he smelt that perfume again.  
        He still didn't get the  
joke, and he went over his  
entire conversation with Fraser trying  
to work it out.  
Staring at the display of red and yellow flowers he analysed  
every  
little word and sighed.  
        He hated being the butt  
of a joke he didn't understand.  
  


  |   |   |   | *ooOO0)=~=(0OOoo*   
---|---|---|---|---  
  
  
        Officer Bresbriss watched  
her partner take the details  
of the theft that had occurred at  
the florists shop and her  
eyes kept falling away to a display on  
the counter next to  
the till that had been emptied.  
          


  |   |   |   | *ooOO0)=~=(0OOoo*   
---|---|---|---|---  
  
  
        Ray lay on his bed, reading  
a book, The fake flowers  
rested in the center of his dresser with  
a bronzed jelly  
doughnut on a stand before them. There was a knock on his  
door and he looked up.  
        "Come in,"  
he croaked.  
        The  
door opened and his sister peeked around the door,  
then slipped  
into the room wearing her idea of a civilian  
Aide's uniform, and in her hands she held a big fluffy teddy  
bear  
holding a scarlet red cushion with the words thinking  
of you embroidered on it. There was a yellow rose in it's  
arms.  
        "This arrived at  
the station, for you."  
        Ray  
bolted up and took the gift from her.  
        "Who's  
it from?"  
        Frannie  
shrugged.  
        "Don't  
tell me you didn't read the card."  
        "There  
was no card."  
        Ray  
pulled the rose loose and looked over the wrapping.  
She was write  
there was no message card, and no sign there  
had ever been one.  
        "But I think Fraser  
knows."  
        "Oh,  
was he there?"  
        "He  
came to get something he left on your desk the  
last time he was  
there."  
        "Who does he think  
it is?"  
        She  
shrugged.  
        "He  
didn't say, he just took the bear, sniffed the  
rose, smiled and  
handed it back."  
        Ray sniffed at the rose,  
then his eyes flew to the  
display on his dresser. Damned if that  
rose didn't smell the  
same. Touching the rose he discovered it  
was silk too and he  
tucked the rose back in the bears arms and  
set it on his  
bedside dresser.  
        When it became obvious  
he wasn't going to tell her  
either she gave a little shrug and  
sat on the edge of the  
bed.  
        "Everyone's wondering  
when you're coming back."  
        "When  
I get my voice back," Ray croaked.  
        "Oh,  
I almost forget, after he gave me the bear back,  
Fraser asked if  
you've worked out what he was laughing about  
the other day yet?"  
        Ray looked at the teddy  
bear, then at Frannie.  
        "Are  
you sure this bear wasn't meant for Fraser?"  
        "Yes."  
        "What do yellow  
roses mean?"  
        "Friendship."  
        Ray pointed to the  
display on the dresser.  
        "What  
does that say to you?"  
        Frannie  
looked around.  
        "Get  
well soon???"  
        "Forget  
where I got them.. What does it say to you, if  
a guy gave it to  
you, what would you think he's saying."  
        Frannie  
rose and walked over to his dresser to pull the  
display down and  
looked it over, touching the petals and  
then sniffed them.  
        "They smell like  
the rose with the bear."  
        "I  
noticed."  
        "So  
who gave you these?"  
        "I  
have no idea. They were just there by the bed when  
I woke up one  
morning."  
        "No card or note?"  
        "Uh-hu."  
        "Just like  
the bear.. This is so cute.. You've got a  
secret admirer."  
        He waggled a finger at  
her.  
        "If I  
find out you pulled this stunt just to cheer me  
up," he croaked.  
        "I swear I had nothing  
to do with it. When the courier  
arrived asking where Vecchio was,  
I thought it was for me,  
you lucky dog you."  
  


  |   |   |   | *ooOO0)=~=(0OOoo*   
---|---|---|---|---  
  
  
        A week later Ray walked  
into the Bullpen followed by  
Huey and Dewey, collecting people  
in his wake. He stopped  
dead when he saw his desk. There was a collection of rose  
bearing toys there. A brown teddy, A tiger, with a rose tied  
to  
it's neck, a robot, holding a rose in it's pincers, A  
sheep, like the tiger, it's rose was tied around its neck  
with a ribbon. A silver helium balloon hovered at the roof,  
a rose  
hanging from it's colourful streamers, and the  
biggest damn teddy bear he'd ever seen, wearing an Armani  
suit, with a replica Chicago police badge clipped to it's  
tie and a set of cuffs, and holster with a replica gun  
attached to its belt sat in his chair.  
        Ray gaped at it, and  
a flash went off in his face.  
Blinking away he looked around and  
saw his sister running  
off with a police camera. He decided to pounce on her later  
and  
looked at the people gathered and waiting.  
        "Who's bright idea  
was this?" He asked, his voice  
husky but strong.  
        There were shrugs all  
round, and they started  
dispersing.  
        "They've been arriving  
every day since you got out of  
the hospital," Huey supplied.  
        "No cards. No name,"  
Dewey answered.  
        Ray  
started grabbing silk roses, to sniff at them. It  
was the same  
perfume in every case.  
        "Anyone called Vecchio  
here?" A voice called out.  
        Ray's  
arm went up. Huey and Dewey turned looking around  
and a delivery  
man wound his way through the group with a  
brightly wrapped parcel and a pad. Ray signed for the parcel  
and  
looked for a senders name and address. There was none.  
        "Who is this from?"  
        "I just deliver,"  
he said and walked away.  
        The  
curious Huey and Dewey turned to watch Ray shake  
the parcel then  
sink into his guest seat and rip the  
wrapping off. That revealed an emerald green box and he  
lifted the lid of then gaped and lifted out a large scale  
model of 1971 Buick Riviera, in green.  
        Huey laughed.  
        Ray  
poked the door and it came open. He looked inside,  
then reached  
out to pull a pen from his cup and poked around  
inside. The trunk  
popped open and Ray looked in, and pulled  
out a piece of folded  
paper.  
        "So who's it from?"  
        "It doesn't  
say."  
        "So  
what does it say?"  
        "Sam's  
Motor Mart, RPC-978 and the address. See," Ray  
handed it to  
Huey.  
        Huey looked at it, fetched  
a phone book and found the  
address, then called the number and  
took the note from Ray.  
        "This is Detective  
Huey, Chicago P.D do you have a car  
in your lot with the registration  
RPC-978... Yes.. I'll  
wait."  
        Ray admired his new toy  
and poked around inside with  
the pen. The hood popped open and  
he studied the perfectly  
reproduced engine.  
        "You do have it..  
Could you tell me what make and  
colour it is?... A Buick Riviera."  
        Ray's head came up.  
        "1971 Model, Mint  
Condition."  
        Ray's  
eyes lit up.  
        "Oh,  
it's been sold."  
        Ray  
slumped.  
        "Thank-you."  
        Huey hung up.  
        "They sold it this  
morning, right?"  
        "Last  
night.."  
        Dewey  
stretched a hand out and pointed.  
        "There's  
something else in the trunk."  
        Ray  
turned it around and pushed open the lid up higher  
and then using  
the pen he pulled out a key ring, with a tiny  
little replica 1971  
green Buick Riviera and a set of car  
keys.  
        Huey picked up the phone  
and hit redial.  
        "Hello,  
It's Detective Huey again, Can you tell me who  
the Buick was sold  
to. Raymond Vecchio.. No, Thank-you, I  
don't need the address."  
        He hung up. Ray packed  
the model back into the box and  
set it on the desk.  
        "Need a lift?"  
Huey asked.  
        "You  
just want to find out who actually brought the  
car."  
        "You want to catch  
a cab that far?"  
        "Lead  
the way."  
  


  |   |   |   | *ooOO0)=~=(0OOoo*   
---|---|---|---|---  
  
  
        Huey followed Ray through  
the car lot.  
        "Well  
that was a complete bust."  
        "Not  
entirely, we know that my *secret admirer* is a  
police officer  
now."  
        "At first I suspected  
all those gifts were actually  
meant for Kowalksi."  
        "Who???"  
        "The guy who took  
your place. Tall, blond, and  
somewhat screwy."  
        "Oh."  
        "But then, that  
giant teddy bear showed up in an  
Armani suit, and now this.. a  
new Buick to replace the one  
you lost points to it definitely being you they were all  
meant for."  
        Ray found the Buick and  
walked around, looking for  
another. Huey checked the plates.  
        "This is it, Ray."  
        "It can't be  
it's *Red*."  
        "It's  
definitely the one. RPC-978. Maybe she couldn't  
find a green one."  
        "Hmmph."  
        He tried the keys, opening  
the trunk first, the  
salesman mentioned the woman who brought it  
put something in  
there. He reached in and pulled out another silk  
rose, this  
one though was red, and a card dangled off it.  
        "A card!" Huey  
exclaimed reaching for it.  
        Ray  
spun turning his back on him and turned the card  
around to look  
at it. Then he gave a rueful laugh.  
        "What does it say?"  
        Ray pulled the card  
off and tucked it into his pocket,  
then pulled out his cel phone  
and tapped in a number.  
        Huey slammed the trunk  
down, annoyed. Ray ignored it.  
        "Yes,  
Hello, this is Detective Vecchio.. Yes, I would  
like to be put  
through to him."  
        "Him?"  
        "Benni.. Fess up.  
Who's the one who's been sending me  
gifts in secret?"  
        Huey stared at him.  
        "I know that you  
know.. I'm standing beside a nice  
shiny mint condition 1971 Red  
Buick Riviera.. And there was  
a little note attached to the Rose  
this time that said,  
Fraser knows, when will you work it out, Detective?"  
        "That's right I  
said *Red*, not green.. What do you  
mean Oh Dear you should have  
checked the car out? Oooh.. You  
did, did you.. Well.. In that case..  
I *might* forgive you  
for blowing up yet another Riv... You're kidding.. I don't  
believe it.. Uh-hu.. Uh-hu.. Oh well. Who cares if it's Red  
then,"  
Ray said, then laughed.  
        "Tell her I *really*  
appreciate the trouble she went  
to for you."  
        Huey watched him slap  
the phone closed and drop it back  
into his pocket, then pull the  
keys from the trunk.  
        "No luck?"  
        "He said he  
gave his word he wouldn't talk. I'm  
supposed to work it out for  
myself."  
        "And.."  
        "She couldn't find  
a green one.. She's been looking  
for a mint condition Riv for months  
and this was the only  
one she could find. And get this, he said, that she pounced  
on  
him and made him and Kowalski cough up the dough for it.  
The bulk's  
the insurance payout for my one, Fraser tracked  
down Kowalski, and they split the difference to pay for  
it," Ray said moving around the car to open it and climb in  
and look it over.  
        Huey leaned on the roof  
and door leaning in.  
        "And  
the best bit is this one is *really* in mint  
condition. It's been  
stored away since 72'."  
        "Who puts a car  
in storage for 20 years?"  
        "25.  
The Parents of the guy who brought the car back  
in 71. He went  
missing.. His body finally turned up a few  
weeks back and they sold the car."  
        He reared up and swore.  
        "What is it."  
        "The damn lighter's  
missing. Can you believe that.. It  
took me forever to find one  
for my last Riv."  


  | Huey chuckled. |   
---|---|---  
  
        "Every silver lining  
has a cloud."  
        "Very  
funny, Jack," Ray growled, then coughed and  
rubbed his throat.  
        "I hope you threw  
the book at that cretin," Ray  
rumbled his voice huskier.  
        "Resisting Arrest,  
attempted Murder, with lots of  
pretty pictures of you clinging  
to Elaine choking and Fraser  
cutting your throat open to stick  
that tube in so you could  
breath, that convinced the judge to refuse  
bail," Huey said  
pushing off and closing the door.  
        Ray's eyes fell on the  
rose on the dash and he snatched  
it up and inhaled deeply.  
        -Oh mi god.. That's why  
it's so familiar, it was Elaine  
who was holding me..She's the one  
who's been sending me all  
that stuff! That's why Fraser was laughing  
at me...-  
        Ray put the keys in the  
ignition and started the car.  
Huey jumped away. Ray looked around,  
then backed the Riv up,  
turning it, and drove off.  
        "Hmmph."  
  


  |   |   |   | *ooOO0)=~=(0OOoo*   
---|---|---|---|---  
  
  
        Officer Bresbriss was  
sitting in her partners patrol  
car, filling in a report while her  
partner visited his  
favourite cafe to get lunch. Scrabbling at the side of the  
door made her look around and then she saw Dief, paws on the  
glass  
a red rose in his mouth.  
        She wound the window  
down and took the rose and  
scratched behind his ears as she sniffed  
the rose, felling  
the silk petals against her skin. One sniff became a deep  
inhalation as Dief dropped down then bounded off. Elaine  
watched him go, then stop and look back and let out a bark.  
She  
looked around to see her partner approaching, and  
climbed out of the car.  
        "I'll be back in  
a minute," she called out to him,  
then spun on her heel and  
moved after Dief.  
        Dief gave a wag of the  
tail, then spun and bounded off  
again and Elaine raced after him.  
        The wolf bounded around  
a corner and Elaine rounded it  
a short time later, but he was gone.  
She slowly walked down  
the street, looking around for him in door  
ways. Then  
stopped when she saw a shiny red 1971 Riv. The same Riv  
she'd found and brought, after she twisted Fraser's arm, to  
make  
him and Kowalski cough up the money to replace Ray's  
lost car.  
        She stepped up to the  
car and leaned forward to look  
through the window. There was Dief,  
sitting on the back  
seat, looking smug, but no Ray. She forget all about him as  
she  
felt a hand descend on her tush. Rearing up, she spun  
read to do some slapping, but her hand stopped a hair's  
breath away from Ray's face.  
        He stepped closer, and  
she backed into the car.  
        "You're  
the one who sent me all those things. You're  
the one who found  
the New Riv, and you're the one who left  
those flowers at the hospital."  
        "Oh, you worked  
it out."  
        His  
hands went out to rest either side of her on the  
car's roof and  
he leaned in closer inhaling her scent, the  
same scent that clung to all the silk roses.  
        "You sound disappointed,"  
he said.  
        "Well  
it was fun while it lasted."  
        "You  
were flirting with Fraser to try and make me  
jealous. And don't  
deny it.. When I worked it out, I pounced  
on him, and he said he  
worked it out in the hospital as soon  
as he smelled those flowers."  
        "So what are you  
going to do about it, Detective?"  
        He  
kissed her, and she almost melted against his car,  
her long frustrating  
at times pursuit of her ideal man  
finally over.  
        {Yes, there is a god}  
        Her hands slid up  
his chest and he deepened the kiss to  
explore her mouth, and she  
returned it, till he pressed his  
body close to hers. She pushed  
at his chest till he broke  
off the kiss and looked down at her.  
        "Funny.. I thought  
that was what you wanted me to  
do."  
        "It is but.."  
        He didn't let her  
add more, silencing her with another  
kiss, his hands sliding over  
the roof of the car, one arm  
dropping to wrap around her waist, pull her close, the other  
moving  
to the back of her skull.  
        {oh lord..}  
        The passion of his kiss  
was only emphasised by the feel  
of him getting aroused against  
her and the movement of his  
hips against hers.  
        She shoved against his  
chest again but his time he  
ignored it. Or tried to, Elaine gasped,  
both for air and in  
shock as Ray suddenly reared back with a choked  
cry as he  
was hauled away from her by the collar. Before either of  
them could get a word out, Ray was being spun around and  
shoved into a wall, by Elaine's partner.  
        "Anyone ever tell  
you mauling a cop's a bad idea,  
Buddy," he growled at Ray  
as he grabbed an arm and slapped  
a cuff on. So tight Ray was sure  
it would cut off his  
circulation.  
        "I'm a cop, you  
idiot," Ray growled, then coughed.  
        -God,  
I hate that-  
        "Sure  
you are, creep."  
        "Elaine!!!"  
        "You heard  
the man."  
        Ray  
looked over his shoulder as his other arm was  
pulled around.  
        "No.. He's probably  
got a gun or two on him."  
        Her  
partner nudged Ray's feet apart.  
        "Alright,  
spread em," he said, then looked at Elaine.  
        "You  
wanna frisk him?"  
        Elaine  
cracked her knuckles and grinned.  
        "With  
pleasure."  
        She  
then proceeded to *very* thoroughly frisk him,  
finding both his  
guns, and slipped a hand down into his  
pant's pocket and made his eyes cross and roll as her hand  
moved over his groin and teased him. His breath caught in  
his throat. Then, and only then did she draw out I.D wallet  
and  
flip it open and flash it for her partner.  
        "Vecchio..."  
Her partner read slowly, then gave her a  
long look. "That's  
who you ordered that teddy bear for in  
the florist's."  
        She gave him a weak smile.  
Ray's arm was suddenly  
yanked down and the next thing he knew the  
cuff was being  
pulled around and he was cuffed to Elaine. Then her partner  
walked  
off.  
        "Laugh that one  
off."  
        Ray raised  
his cuffed wrist, lifting Elaine's arm along  
with it and looked  
at the cuffs.  
        "I don't suppose  
he gives you his spare key."  
        "Good  
guess."  
        "He  
doesn't have much of a sense of humour, does he?"  
        "He's  
a grump."  
        "So  
am I.. Or didn't you ever notice."  
        "Well..  
You know what they say.. Love is blind, like a  
certain man I could  
name."  
        "Did you ever stop  
to consider the fact I'm *not*  
blind to the fact you're an incredible  
looking woman, that  
any guy would be proud to take home to mother. And I'm still  
trying  
to wrap my head around the fact you think a guy like  
me is your  
kind of guy."  
        She smiled at that.  
        "I gave you enough  
hints over the years."  
        "As  
much as you and I need to talk about this.. We  
really have to go  
after him and get the key. Cause this is  
pretty awkward, we're not facing the same direction.. And,"  
he held up his hand again, "There is nothing remotely funny  
about the way this thing is cutting off my circulation."  
  


  |   |   |   | *ooOO0)=~=(0OOoo*   
---|---|---|---|---  
  
  
        By the time Elaine and  
Ray got to the spot where  
Elaine's partner had parked the patrol  
car it was gone.  
        "I just knew this  
was going to happen, now how do we  
get out of these cuffs."  
        "The spare keys  
are kept at the station."  
        "How  
far is that?"  
        She  
turned and headed back down the street tugging him  
along in her  
wake.  
  


  |   |   |   | *ooOO0)=~=(0OOoo*   
---|---|---|---|---  
  
  
        Working out how to sort  
out the cuffed facing different  
directions problems to get into  
Ray's car took some time,  
but was solved when Elaine climbed into the back while Ray  
stretched his arm out. Then she pulled the seat back, and  
hung over the back of it while he climbed in. She had to  
remain hanging over the seat so that he could drive. And  
they were pulled over twice, by patrolmen who laughed when  
they looked in and the pair held up their cuffed hands and  
Ray flashed his badge, and they laughed even harder when  
they recognised Elaine.  
        "So who's arresting  
who, and for what?"  
        "Her  
partner cuffed us together like this."  
        There  
were sage nods and they were permitted to go on  
their way. Three  
blocks from the station, Ray's cel phone  
trilled and he looked down, then transferred his cuffed hand  
to  
the wheel and pulled the phone out, flipping it open.  
        "Vecchio,"  
he answered, then winced and held the  
phone away as Welsh proceeded  
to ream him out via the  
wonders of satellite technology.  
        Elaine gave a little  
giggle and the tirade ended. Ray  
put the phone back to his ear.  
        "Yeeesss, sir, that  
was a woman giggling... Actually  
sir, you'd probably find my current  
situation rather  
amusing.. God knows everyone else does."  
        Ahead of them, three  
men in non descript clothes, with  
balaclava's over their heads,  
sports bags in one hand guns  
in another, ran out of a bank and jumped into a car.  
        "Ray!" Elaine  
cried out and pointed around him.  
        "Follow  
that white Chevy Nova!"  
        Ray  
looked around, and saw the car speed off. He put  
the pedal to the  
metal, the phone being passed to Elaine, so  
he could get both hands  
on the wheel.  
        "Why am I following  
this Chevy?"  
        "They  
just robbed the bank."  
        She  
heard Welsh's voice, and brought the phone up,  
holding it up for  
Ray.  
        "Yes, Sir.. That's  
Elaine."  
        "Get  
closer, I can't read their plate."  
        "Gear  
shift," he warned as his hand dropped.  
        She  
let her arm drop with his so he could change gears,  
then his hand  
flew back to the wheel.  
        "We're in pursuit  
of bandits, on.. Where are we  
Elaine."  
        Elaine took the phone  
and relayed their location and a  
description of the car, stating  
that she saw the three  
bandits fleeing from the bank as they drove past and asked  
him to relay the details to her precinct.  
        "They don't have  
a licence plate," Ray reported.  
        The  
Chevy speed through a red light, getting through a  
break in the  
traffic. Ray almost followed, but the break in  
the traffic was  
followed by a 16 wheeler rig. Italian  
invective filled the car, Dief howled and Elaine screeched  
as his hands flew over the wheel. He swerved to avoid  
running into the truck, the car turning a full 350 degree's  
burning  
rubber, and came out of it as the truck rumbled  
past. Ray hit the accelerator again, and sped through the  
gap.  
        "What's happening?!"  
Welsh demanded over the phone.  
        "This  
car does have *brakes* Ray."  
        "Ever  
driven a Riv, Elaine.. I know the stopping  
distance, and believe  
me, I woulda hit the brakes if there  
was enough time, you're stomach wasn't the only one I left  
behind back there... I can't see them, can you?"  
        Elaine looked around,  
then saw the car again, parked at  
the side of the road.  
        "Behind us, they  
pulled over."  
        "Hang  
on."  
        He spun  
the car in a wide circle. Dief whined from the  
back. As they came  
out of it, the car pulled out and speed  
away again.  
        "Ooooh-noooo!"  
Elaine wailed, as Ray spun the car  
around again to continue the  
pursuit.  
        "I Loooove this  
car," Ray exulted.  
        Elaine  
looked around for the fallen phone, and saw it  
on the back set.  
Using her foot she pulled it forward and  
stretched out to snatch it back.  
        "Get us back up!  
Before Ray's driving gets us  
killed."  
        "Hey! I *avoided*  
that accident in the making."  
        "Car's  
are closing in.. They'll be intersecting with  
us within the next  
three blocks," Elaine relayed Welsh's  
report from her fellow  
cops.  
        The escape vehicle flew  
around a corner and Ray was  
right behind him. Dief slid across  
the back seat and into  
the side with a yelp.  
        "Sorry Dief."  
        "They've turned  
onto Marksfield, heading East,"  
Elaine reported.  
        Then she saw one of the  
occupant's poking his head and  
shoulders out of the back window  
of the car, with a rifle.  
        "Pull out Ray!"  
        "Like Hell,"  
he retorted and started swerving the car  
from side to side to make  
it hard for the man up front to  
fire on them.  
        "Bandits are armed,  
I repeat, Armed, with at least  
three hand guns and a rifle."  
        The Chevy took another  
corner at High speed and Ray  
followed and Dief went sliding again.  
        "Sorry Dief."  
        "They've turned  
onto Dewer, Heading West."  
        A  
lucky shot took out the front window, and Ray's  
closed his eyes  
and felt slivers slice his face. When he  
opened his eyes he saw the car ahead, the rifle man trying  
to line up another shot.  
        "Where the hell  
is that back up?!" Ray growled and  
coughed.  
        "Pull out!"  
        Ray's cuffed hand  
fell from the wheel and he pulled out  
his gun and waved it in Elaine's  
face. Elaine dropped the  
phone onto the back seat and took the gun, and Ray's arm  
crossed his chest as she held it in both hands. Ray  
accelerated to get in range. And she fired. Their back  
window blew out and the rifle man lost it.  
        "Yes!"  
        The rifle man drew back  
in, and his partner in crime  
turned pulling out a hand gun.  
        "Shit."  
        Ray started swerving  
the car again.  
        "I  
can't fire if you don't hold it steady."  
        "If  
I do that, they'll be able to fire on us."  
        He  
watched her lower the aim.  
        "Five  
seconds, Ray."  
        Ray  
floored it again, and ran strait for the Chevy and  
        Elaine  
fired off three shots. One of them hit its mark,  
one of the Chevy's  
back tire's. The Chevy started fish  
tailing and then Elaine dropped the gun crying out, and Ray  
felt  
her slump and almost cried out himself when that hot  
gun dropped into his lap. With a wince and a curse he hit  
the brakes bringing the car's speed down.  
        Then his world exploded  
as the bandit threw a little  
more lead their way, and he knew no  
more.  
  


  |   |   |   | *ooOO0)=~=(0OOoo*   
---|---|---|---|---  
  
  
        Ray came back to his  
senses in a hospital room, his  
head throbbing, but it was the feel  
of a gentle hand  
stroking his that made him open his eyes to look around. He  
saw  
Elaine sitting in a chair by his bed.  
        She stopped stroking  
his hand to hit a buzzer, then  
resumed.  
        "Welcome back to  
the land of the living, you had  
everyone worried for a while there."  
        "Did I? Why?"  
he rasped.  
        The door  
opened and Elaine looked around, then smiled.  
Ray looked around  
to watch Fraser slip into the room and  
approach the bed smiling.  
        "You're awake."  
        He moved to the  
side of the bed, and touched Ray's arm.  
        "You  
had us all worried."  
        "Who  
are you?"  
        The  
smile vanished of Fraser's face, and he shared  
looks with Elaine.  
Elaine clasped Ray's hand and squeezed  
it, and he looked around.  
        "Who am I?"  
She asked him.  
        "Why  
don't you tell me and we'll both know."  
          


  |   |   |   | *ooOO0)=~=(0OOoo*   
---|---|---|---|---  
  
  
        Ray discovered over the  
course of the day, that he'd  
been comatose for weeks after a bullet  
came so close it  
fractured his skull as it grazed it, resulting in severe  
concussion. Crashing the car hadn't helped matter's either.  
He  
also discovered his name was Raymond Vecchio, and that he  
was apparently  
a police detective. The rather attractive  
black woman was Elaine Bresbriss, a police officer, who'd  
been in the car at the time, and the smiling visitor was a  
Mountie by the name of Benton Fraser, and apparently his  
unofficial partner.  
        "What does that  
mean?" Ray asked.  
        "It  
means everyone knows your partners, it's just not  
officially recognised."  
        "What sort of *partnership*  
are you talking about?"  
he asked the man who identified himself  
a Lieutenant Welsh.  
        "The sort cops have."  
        "Oh.. And that  
woman?"  
        "Which  
one?"  
        "Elaine..  
Is she my official partner?"  
        "Er.  
No. You're a plain clothes detective at the  
twenty seventh, and  
she's a uniformed first year officer at  
another."  
        "So what were we  
doing sharing a car during a high  
speed pursuit?"          
        "I gather you  
ended up cuffed together by her partner  
and were heading for her  
station house to get the spare  
keys, when one of you saw some bandits fleeing a scene, and  
took  
up the pursuit."  
        "Did we catch them?"  
        "Elaine shot  
out it's tyre, it crashed, 3 of the 4  
were caught, the fourth one  
escaped but all the money and  
bonds were recovered."  
        "Uh-hu.. So how  
did I end up cuffed to that babe in  
the first place?"  
        [Babe??]  
        "From what I've  
been able to learn, you were joking  
around with Elaine, and he  
has no sense of humour, and  
cuffed you together to prove it."  
        "Uh-hu.. So are  
we like... An item or what?"  
        Welsh  
gave a little snort of laughter.  
        "Stupid  
question, what would a hot looking babe like  
that want with me..  
        [This is getting better  
by the second]  
        "You  
think she's hot?"  
        "You  
don't? Man are you *blind*?"  
        [I  
wish I had a tape recorder]  
        Then  
Ray raised a hand to his brown frowning.  
        [Ah,  
what's this?]  
        "What..  
Was I doing.. with her in the first place?"  
        "Good  
question.. No one knew where you were.. You were  
supposed to be  
at the precinct.. You left to collect your  
new car and, then you took off.."  
        "New car? I smashed  
up a new car?! God, did I have  
insurance on it?!"  
        "I have no idea.  
And it was second hand.."  
        [Should  
I or shouldn't I.. Oh what the hell]  
        "A  
true mint condition, 1971 Buick Riveria."  
        Ray's  
eyes widened. An image of Elaine, in uniform,  
leaning up against  
a red Riveria, his body started tingling  
and he remembered to the  
feel of her body, the scent of her,  
the warmth of her mouth, the  
beating of her heart...  
        Welsh waved a hand in  
Ray's face and he snapped out of  
it looking at Welsh again.  
        "Was it Red?"  
        "Yes."  
        Ray gave a grin  
of complete satisfaction.  
        -We  
are an item and no one knows it-  
          


  |   |   |   | *ooOO0)=~=(0OOoo*   
---|---|---|---|---  
  
  
        Elaine had the feeling  
following her around, for  
several days. That suspicion was confirmed  
on the third day  
when she ducked into an Alley way and waited to  
see who  
walked past and saw Ray walking past. She stretched out a  
hand grabbed him by the tail of his coat and yanked him into  
the  
Alley. He pulled free spinning, then gave her a dopey  
grin.          
        "Busted."  
        "What do you think  
you're doing?"  
        He  
moved in and she backed into the wall, and he spread  
his hands  
over the wall behind her.  
        "Trying to get you  
alone, my little African queen,"  
He said and swooped in for  
a kiss.  
        Her hands flew to his  
chest and she pushed him away. He  
staggered back, then weaved a  
hand flying to his head, eyes  
loosing focus as the memory of the  
last time he'd kissed her  
came back. He remembered the kiss, her  
pushing at his chest,  
being half chocked as he was torn away form  
her by a hold on  
his collar, being spun around and shoved at a  
wall.  
        A gentle slapping of  
his face and Elaine's concerned  
voice snapped him out of it, and  
he felt a wall against his  
back.  
        "Oh.. I hate it  
when that happens," he said shaking  
his head."  
        "Are you alright?"  
        "Yeah.. Just  
another flash back."  
        "A  
flash back! You're starting to remember things."  
        "Yeah..Mainly  
You."  
        She flashed  
a smile.  
        "I'm  
sorry about that.. My heads a mess.. I thought  
we.. were like an  
item. I guess I was wrong.." He  
apologised and started trying to sidle away.  
        She moved fast, this  
time it was her arms going out  
around him, her arms flattening  
on the wall, her mouth  
closing on his.  
        When she drew back he  
looked at her confused, then a  
horrible thought occurred to him.  
        "You're not married  
are? I mean all that sneaking  
around has to be for a reason."  
        "We haven't been  
sneaking around."  
        "Then  
how come no one knows we're like a couple. And  
why'd some guy almost  
choke me and shove me into a wall for  
kissing you, and why'd you.."  
        She shut him up with  
another kiss.  
        "Who  
cares," he said when she drew back.  
        Her  
arms fell, one travelling down his arm, to take his  
arm and pull  
him away from the wall.  
        "I'm not an exhibitionist."  
        She started drawing  
him out of the alley way and he  
snatched his hand away. She looked  
at him.  
        "My apartment's  
just a few blocks.."  
        "Is  
it a race thing.. Is that why no one knows? Why  
that guy slammed  
me into a wall? Why you don' wanna be seen  
kissing me in public..  
Cause I'm .."  
        "If I worried about  
that, I wouldn't have kissed you  
in the first place."  
        "So why do.."  
        "Raymond, shut  
up. I already told you the answer to  
that question."  
        He shut up and she took  
his hand again, tugging him  
after her.  
  


  |   |   |   | *ooOO0)=~=(0OOoo*   
---|---|---|---|---  
  
  
        Elaine lead Ray into  
her apartment and he looked around  
while she locked the door behind  
him.  
        "Nice place.. Don't  
bring back any memories though."  
        She  
ran a hand down his back and he turned. She took  
hold of his tie  
and tugged.  
        "Forget about the  
past."  
        "I  
did," he said before their lips met and he decided  
to let  
it go.  
        They left their clothes  
scattered through the  
apartment, before falling onto her bed bodies  
locked in a  
passionate embrace. They broke apart to move across the bed,  
and  
Ray crawled after her as she slid back across the bed.  
        "God, you are so  
beautiful," he said his voice husky  
with passion as his hands  
slid up her dark skin.  
        "Flattery will get  
you everywhere," she purred.  
        His  
body followed his hand, and she stretched up hand  
to push him up.  
        "Let me look at  
you."  
        He rose  
up on his knee's and she sat up to run her  
hands over that sleek  
muscled chest that she'd only had  
tantalising glimpses off during his loose colourful silk  
shirt phase, and only seen in all it's naked glory once.  
        She kissed his chest,  
and his arms moved around her,  
hands sliding over her back exploring  
her silken skin. He  
almost purred as her mouth moved over his skin in turn.  
        "I've wanted to  
do this ever since I walked into the  
showers and saw you wearing  
nothing but water."  
        *Water pouring over his  
skin, hot and cleansing,  
washing away the suds, the scent of his  
favourite shower  
gel, the cold feel of metal against his hand as he turned  
the faucet. The feel of the chill room as he turned and  
reached for the fluffy towel hanging on the shower rod over  
the  
cubicle. Or it hand been. His questing hand met only  
empty air. The sound of a door opening and foot steps across  
the  
tiled floor. Foot steps that terminated abruptly. He  
sluiced water off his face and looked up, to see a pair of  
black clad legs a very feminine waist, a blue shirt, a  
tumble of curls, her exquisite face, eyes wide, lips  
slightly parted, pupils dilated.*  
        Hands skittering over  
his skin, that warm body sliding  
over his, those lips on his throat.  
Moving upward, teeth  
gently nibbling his ear.  
        "And do you know  
why."  
        "Why?"  
        "Because you  
blushed, from the top down, shrieked at  
me to get out and tried  
to cover that luscious body of yours  
up."  
        "That turns you  
on."  
        "Other  
guys would just stand there and flaunt it and  
make a suggestive  
comment.. When you covered up.. I knew you  
weren't as cocky as  
you act sometimes."  
        With a gentle push, he  
ended up on his back and she  
straddled him, her curls brushing  
over his skin. His hands  
rose up to glide over her ribs and cup her breasts, thumbs  
flicking nipples before those hands slid around her ribs and  
pulled  
her down as he raised his head. His mouth closed over  
one of those  
dark globes and swirled his tongue around her  
nipple, flicking it, then licking it before gently abrading  
it  
between his teeth.  
        He gasped as he felt  
her hands closing over his hot  
throbbing sex, and guide him to  
her welcoming sheath. Then  
she was rising over him, looking down at him as she thrust  
down and rose over him with a little twist of her hips. He  
arched under her and clutched and the cover.  
        She set the Rhythm, her  
legs sliding under his tangle  
with them. Her face was a picture  
of absolute satisfaction  
as she watched his lithe body writhe, his long neck arch,  
heard his voice raised in incoherent pleasure as she used  
every trick in the book to drive him insane with it. And  
then as he reached his peak she fell over his body, letting  
him  
wrap his arms around and roll her to take it to the  
final glorious moment, with strong deep thrusts and she sank  
her  
teeth into his throat as he arched over her crying out  
in ecstasy.  
        She held his trembling  
body in her arms, purring with  
contentment.  
        "You're mine."  
        "Ohhh, yesss.."  
He agreed. "All yours," he went on  
and gave a little  
wiggle and thrust of his hips, "Every  
little piece of me."  
        "There's nothing  
little about that piece of you," she  
purred.  
        He kissed her.  
        "You  
are the sexist woman alive."  
        Her  
finger's ran over his shorn head.  
        "Again  
already."  
        "It's  
been the only thing on my mind since I  
remembered you Cara Mia."  
          
  


  |   |   |   | *ooOO0)=~=(0OOoo*   
---|---|---|---|---  
  
  
        Frannie looked up hopefully  
as a flash of red caught  
her eye. That flash of Red became Fraser  
moving through the  
bull pen. The hope died in her eyes when she  
saw that he was  
alone. Then he was heading straight for her, his  
face so  
pale and controlled that she feared the worst. He seemed to  
confirm  
her fear's when he leaned over to lay a hand on her  
arm.  
        "You found him..  
Didn't you.. he'd dead isn't he."  
        "He's  
still missing.. But.. we know he's started  
having flash backs and  
recovering memories.. And.. He was  
seen near O'Hare. We think he may have returned to Vegas,  
not realising his undercover mission is over."  
        Frannie's hands flew  
up her eyes full of terror for her  
confused and amnesiatic brother.  
If he returned to Vegas, he  
was a dead man.  
  


  |   |   |   | *ooOO0)=~=(0OOoo*   
---|---|---|---|---  
  
  
        Unaware Ray's family,  
friends and associates were  
fearing the worst about the amnesiatic  
detective, Elaine  
drifted through her day's on a cloud of happiness. How could  
life  
get any better. She had the career she wanted and the  
man. And oh what a man.  
        He treated like a queen,  
waiting on her head and foot,  
when he wasn't worshiping her body  
from head to foot  
murmuring words of love and adoration, usually in Italian.  
Her partner glanced over at her as she got that silly little  
smile  
on her face she alway's got when she was studying her  
Italian to  
English pocket dictionary.  
        {Tesoro=Treasure, he's  
calling me his Treasure}  
        "I  
don't see what you see in him, He's a skinny little  
beak nosed,  
cue ball." Hawkings said.  
        She just smiled and tucked  
the book away in the glove  
compartment.  
        "Italians really  
know how to treat a woman."  
        Hawkings  
snorted.  
        "Italian's  
like their women barefoot and pregnant and  
chained to the stove  
cooking pasta with a passel of brats at  
their feet."  
        Elaine's hand passed  
over her waist. The very idea of  
carrying Ray's child sent a warm  
thrill her.  
        "Oh God, don't tell  
me you're pregnant! What were you  
thinking! Not of you're career  
that's for sure," Hawkings  
went off ranting, bursting Elaine's  
happy little bubble.          
        She made a mental  
note to visit the family planning  
center and take care of it.  
  


  |   |   |   | *ooOO0)=~=(0OOoo*   
---|---|---|---|---  
  
  
  
        Fraser sat on his cot,  
with in his bare unfurnished  
apartment. Dief lying on a blanket  
on the floor, whining.  
Fraser reached out with his foot and poked the wolf. Dief  
twitched and rolled over. Fraser lay back with a sigh  
staring at the roof.  
        It had been more than  
a month since Ray had disappeared  
from the hospital. Any hope of  
finding the man, who had  
shown him that life was worth living, alive had long since  
past. It was the general consensus of all that Ray had  
wandered out of the hospital in his confused state thinking  
he  
was still playing the role of Armando and returned to  
Vegas to be executed by the compatriots of the men he's  
undercover work had sent to prison for what would probably  
be the rest of their sorry lives.  
        Fraser remembered his  
homecoming, the joyous  
celebration at the Vecchio household, the  
welcome back at  
the station. The bone cracking hug he'd received from Ray.  
He flipped over, staring out at the empty apartment.  
Remembering Ray within it's confines, waving and raving  
about how it was a much better apartment, and highly  
affordable, and nagging him into taking out a lease.  
        He'd listened to Ray  
going on about how they'd go out  
and visit all the flea markets  
and quality second hand  
stores to find decent furniture to turn the apartment into a  
home.  
Those plans were all for nought now. There would be no  
trips to  
flea markets in Ray's shiny new Riv. No teasing,  
cajoling and jokes about his taste.  
        How ironic. To get through  
the agony of waiting,  
spending so many months worrying about wether  
or not Ray  
would survive his undercover assignment. Only to have him  
return and put the smile back on his face and the spring in  
his  
step, and snatched away just as they were starting to  
fall back into their old easy camaraderie.  
        A knock on his door had  
him bolting up and reaching  
jumping off the bed, to stride through  
the apartment. He  
opened his door to Ray, Stanley Ray Kowalski, that is.  
        "I heard about Vecchio."  
        Fraser stepped aside  
to let him in, but Kowalski didn't  
enter.  
        "I know where he  
is."  
        "What?!"  
        "He's alive."  
        The animation returned  
to Fraser's face.  
        "You've  
seen him?"  
        Kowalski  
nodded.  
        "Walking  
down the street, loaded down with Groceries.  
I called out to him,  
but he didn't respond to his name at  
all. I followed him all the way to the apartment block he's  
staying  
in."  
        "And.."  
        "Up to his apartment,  
and came straight here.."  
        "I'll  
get my coat."  
  


  |   |   |   | *ooOO0)=~=(0OOoo*   
---|---|---|---|---  
  
  
        Ray padded through the  
apartment, irritated that  
someone had disturbed him in the middle  
of his preparations  
for another night of adoring worship of his  
Nubian Queen. He  
threw open the door to be greeted by the sight  
of Fraser on  
his door step, then slammed the door in his face.  
        "Go away Mountie."  
        Fraser pounded on  
the door.  
        "Ray,  
Open this door."  
        "Don't  
make me call the cops to throw you out,  
Mister."  
        "Go ahead call them.  
I am not leaving till you open  
this door and talk with me."  
        Ray stomped through the  
room, grabbed a CD of the shelf  
and slotted the shiny disk in the  
stereo, jacked the volume  
up to window rattling and stabbed play.  
Then he stormed back  
into the kitchen to resume his culinary exploits  
to the loud  
and window shaking strains of an Italian Opera.  
        In the hall, Fraser slumped  
again the door in defeat.  
He might be alive and well, if the way  
he was almost glowing  
with health (and fury at finding him on his  
doorstep) was  
indicative of his physical state. But Mentally, he was a  
total and hostile stranger. He was as good as dead to him.  
        He wondered if the horrible  
feeling in the pit of his  
gut was what Ray had felt when he'd been  
suffering temporary  
amnesia.  
  


  |   |   |   | *ooOO0)=~=(0OOoo*   
---|---|---|---|---  
  
  
        Mrs Vecchio opened her  
door to Fraser and looked up at  
him with dread in her eyes.  
        "I have good news  
and bad new."  
        "Good  
news?! You've found my Raimondo!"  
        Fraser  
nodded. At theirs mother's joyous cry, the  
Vecchio sisters converged  
on the entry. Their mother turned,  
her face lit by a smile for  
the first time since the news  
Ray had vanished from the hospital.  
        "They've found Ray."  
        While Maria reacted  
to that news, Frannie looked at  
Fraser, almost emotionlessly.  
        "Dead or alive?"  
        Her mother and sisters  
celebration died a sudden death,  
and they both looked at Ray, fear  
in his eyes.  
        "He is alive."  
        "So why do  
you look like you just lost your best  
friend all over again."  
        "Because... I have.."  
        "You're still  
a stranger to him, aren't you."  
        Fraser  
nodded sadly.  
        "He  
is alive, that is all that matters," Mrs Vecchio  
stated emphatically.  
        "That and if he  
is well."  
        "He  
is almost glowing with Health and Vitality.. I  
don't think I've  
seen him looking better in all the time  
I've known him. He has put back on all the weight he lost,  
and.. He..has made a new life for himself.."  
        "Did you talk with  
him?"  
        "He  
was hostile and furious with me for tracking him  
down. It took  
me five hours to get him to open the door to  
me.. and he did that only to tell me that Raymond Vecchio is  
dead,  
and that I better get used to it and leave him  
alone."  
        "What is he doing?  
How is he getting by? He hasn't  
touched his bank accounts."  
        That was the question  
Fraser was dreading. He'd  
questioned Ray's neighbours, those that  
had agreed to open  
their doors and answer questions once he convince Kowalski  
to come up and start flashing his badge.  
        "It.. seems.. he  
has.. become.. a kept man."  
        They  
all stared at him.  
        "Are  
you calling my brother a gigolo?!" Frannie  
demanded.  
        "No.. But that is  
what the people who live in the  
apartment block call him though..  
Especially the neighbours,  
either side and below the apartment  
he's residing in. They  
can.. hear.. what goes on.. and.. one of them.. let me stay  
in  
their lounge to hear it for myself.."  
        Mrs Vecchio blanched,  
and her daughters moved to  
comfort her.  
        "You must get him  
away from that bitch, he is not in  
his right mind, he doesn't know  
what he is doing."  
        "I'm afraid, he  
knows exactly what he's doing."  
        "No..  
My son would never."  
        "I'm  
sorry, but while your son is physically alive,  
the man he was is  
dead. And I will not tell you where he is,  
who he is with or assist  
you to try and save him from his  
*chosen* new life. He *knows* what he was, and he has no  
interest in returning to that life, as he said to me, he's  
got plenty of reason to avoid a life threatening job now."  
        "She's pregnant  
isn't she?" Frannie guessed.  
        Fraser  
sighed and nodded and Mrs Vecchio started  
wailing about her baby  
being lead astray by some wicked  
trollop. Maria lead her off and Frannie moved to lay a hand  
on  
Fraser's arm.  
        "She'll get over  
it. Knowing he's safe and well *is*  
the most important thing."  
        "That is why I came."  
        "Is he happy?"  
        "He said..  
that he is. And..er..if what I heard before  
I left is anything  
to go by.. he has more than enough reason  
to be happy."  
        She poked him in the  
chest.  
        "You  
go back and you find that woman and you tell her  
that if she doesn't  
make an honest man out of him, we will  
find out who she is, and where she is, and we will make her  
life  
a living hell till she does it."  
        Fraser smiled faintly,  
and nodded.  
        "I  
don't think you need have any concerns in that  
area. I do know  
who the woman is and I believe that when she  
believes the time  
is right the subject of marriage would  
come up."  
        "It better."  
  


  |   |   |   | *ooOO0)=~=(0OOoo*   
---|---|---|---|---  
  
  
        The happy home of Ray  
and Elaine was far from happy at  
that point in time. Ray was following  
Elaine through the  
apartment, confused and also contrite.  
        "What did I say?  
What did I do?"  
        "Hawkings  
is right, Italian men are all the same."  
        "I  
resent that."  
          
She spun to face him.  
        "Ha!  
All you talk about lately is Bambino's. All you  
want to do is get  
me barefoot and pregnant and chained to  
the stove, you think that if you flatter me enough, I'll.."  
        "Nononono, Cara  
Mia.. I don't want you to give up your  
career.. Pregnant maybe..  
Just one little baby will make me  
happy.. And I'll do the barefoot  
and chained to the stove  
thing.."  
        She stared at him, and  
he moved in to wrap his arms  
around her.  
        "I knew what you  
were when I fell head over heels for  
you, I don't want to change  
that."  
        She sighed, reaching  
up to cup his face, then pressed a  
gentle kiss first to his lips  
and then to his brow, and  
looked him in the eye.  
        "Go home Raymond."  
        "What?!"  
        "Go home, find  
out who you are."  
        He  
broke away and back stepped.  
        "No..  
This is who I am. I'm not that Detective with a  
death wish, who's  
too stupid to know when to quit. He's  
dead, gone, buried."  
        "No. He's not..  
he comes back when you sleep."  
        His  
eyes widen.  
        "And  
you thrash about and murmur things, names.. of  
People.. who are  
part of his life. Important parts of his  
life.. Of your life. Go home, find out who you are.. And if  
you  
can come back to me, if Detective Vecchio comes back for  
me.. Then.."  
she stepped up and caressed his face.  
        "I'll give you your  
little Bambino, and your little  
love nest, and be you're Nubian  
Queen for you, for the rest  
of our lives."  
        He cupped her face.  
        "I don't want to  
go back to that life."  
        "You  
have to go back to that life.. You can't think  
about bringing a  
new life into this world, until you've made  
peace with your past  
and go into the future without it  
haunting you. I don't want to wake up one morning and find  
you staring at me wondering how the hell you ended up in my  
bed,  
and who the little rug rat bouncing on it is."  
        He gave a shuddering  
sigh looking down, then glanced up  
at her again, give her the best  
puppy in the window look he  
could muster.  
        "Do I have to go  
home tonight? Can't *I* have one more  
night? Before you banish  
me."  
          


  |   |   |   | *ooOO0)=~=(0OOoo*   
---|---|---|---|---  
  
  
        Elaine, rolled fast,  
to the edge of the bed and sat up  
watching Ray thrash around in  
the bed, his body arching, his  
hands clawing at his chest and throat,  
horrible sounds  
coming from his throat. She knew better than to try and wake  
him,  
that only lead to bruises. Climbing out of bed, she  
hurried to the kitchen and filled a jug. Returning to the  
bedroom she ripped the blankets off Ray, then poured the  
contents over him, from head to groin.  
        He came awake spluttering  
and flailing his arms around.  
Then he looked around the room wide  
eyed. He leapt half out  
of his skin, and half way across the bed  
when his eyes fell  
on the naked Elaine.  
        "Elaine!"  
        He started scrabbling  
backward across the bed.  
        "Ohmigod..  
What the hell am I doing here!"  
        He  
tumbled off the edge of the bed. Elaine ripped the  
cover off, and  
wrapping it around herself, she strode  
through the room, her dignity in shreds around her.  
        Ray's head popped up  
over the bed, from the eyes up and  
he looked around the room. Elaine  
slammed the door behind  
her, and he winced and rubbed his aching head.  
        "Really smart, not..  
That's the last time she'll ever  
do you any favour's, idiot."  
        He looked around, trying  
to find his clothes.  
  


  |   |   |   | *ooOO0)=~=(0OOoo*   
---|---|---|---|---  
  
          
        The whole Vecchio household  
heard the pounding on the  
door, waking them from their slumbers,  
to glance at clocks.  
Frannie eventually crept down the stairs with  
a baseball bat  
and yelled through the door that she had a gun and  
would use  
it. Then she heard the plaintive wail of her brother  
to be  
let in. The bat hit the floor and she opened the door. Ray  
staggered in, pasty faced, shaking uncontrollably, a hand to  
his  
head. Her arms reached out for him and he collapsed into  
her arms,  
gibbering.  
        Heads poked over the  
stair rails. Frannie touched Ray's  
face and whipped her hand back.  
He was like ice. Her hand  
fell over his heart, it was thudding away like a runaway  
train under her hand.  
        "It's Ray! He's  
back! He's delirious! Somebody call an  
ambulance!"  
        Her mother, sister and  
brother in law came flying down  
the stairs. Tony headed for the  
phone while her Mother and  
Maria joined her to cluck over Ray.  
  


  |   |   |   | *ooOO0)=~=(0OOoo*   
---|---|---|---|---  
  
  
        Ray looked at the Model  
of the Riv that had pride of  
place on his dresser, before Elaine's  
flower arrangement as  
Fraser raided his wardrobe.  
        "Elaine gave me  
that?"  
        "Yes,  
Ray. And the giant "Detective Vecchio bear" in  
the corner,  
the flowers, the small bear on your stand."  
        Ray  
crossed his arms as he leaned against the wall.  
        "You  
know if you ask me.. She was probably just trying  
to make you jealous."  
        Fraser pulled out a blue  
silk shirt and tossed it at  
the bed, then started going through  
the coats on offer.  
        "It's so strange,"  
Ray said making Fraser look around  
at the change in town.  
        "What is?"  
        "I lost *all*  
my memories.."  
        "Now  
I know you felt when it happened to me."  
        "But  
I lost mine for weeks."  
        "I  
suffered a bump on the head. A bullet fractured  
your skull and  
almost killed you. And you vanished on us."  
        "Vanished?"  
        "Completely  
for 6 weeks. And when you came back you  
had your memories back.."  
Fraser said, leaving out the fact  
he knew where and who Ray had  
been with, a courtesy his  
family extended to him also.  
        "Except for everything  
that happened for over three  
months.. You don't know how close  
to becoming Languoustini  
on you Benni.."  
        "Oh, so you do remember  
something that happened during  
the period you were missing."  
        "No.. I got my memories  
back on the fifth.. I remember  
that day clearly. I was confused  
and didn't know where I was  
or how I got there.. I couldn't find  
my car.. and memories,  
just.. kept hitting me. Confusing me.. God,  
people on the  
street thought I was a drunk.. And then the memories of  
going under started coming back.. I didn't realise it at the  
time,  
but I stumbled in on a little mob deal going down."  
        "That's  
what brought those memories back."  
        Ray  
nodded.  
        "Lucky for me they  
came rushing back.. Or I'd be as  
dead as Armando.. I managed to  
convince them I was just  
another mobster like them. Albeit, a rather drunk or stoned  
one..  
They were laughing at me.. And one of them shoved me  
in a cab, tossed the driver some money and told him to take  
me  
home.. Wherever that was."  
        "That's how you  
got back."  
        "He  
kept asking me.. Where too.. The first thing I  
said was Armando's  
place.. He said, you wanna go all the way  
to Vegas.. And then I  
found out where I was.."  
        "And told him to  
take you literally home."  
        "Yeah.  
I still don't remember coming back from that  
assignment.. Are you  
sure I did come back *offically*? It's  
not just something my family  
are saying cause they don't  
want me going back."  
        "You completed your  
assignment, successfully, you came  
back officially becoming Raymond  
Vecchio again."  
        "The doctor said..I'd  
probably never get those  
memories back.. That there are probably  
traumatic memories  
lurking amongst the mundane and boring ones that my mind  
just doesn't want to face.."  
        "Like being shot."  
        "Yeah... The  
strange thing is that I can remember  
things now that I thought  
I'd forget about years ago.. Like  
the first time I met Elaine."  
        "Tell me about that."  
        Ray blushed a little.  
        "It was soooo  
embarrassing that I put it right out of  
my mind."  
        "What happened?"  
        "It was April  
fools day and Louis got me good.. With a  
bucket of blood and guts  
over a door way.. I didn't want to  
go home like that, so I got  
my spare suit and headed for the  
shower but the men's showers were  
locked and a sign on the  
door said, closed for repairs. So I ended up chasing down  
all the women on the shift and warning them to stay out of  
their showers cause I was going to be using them. I hadn't  
even met Elaine, well, I had, but we weren't actually  
introduced or anything, so I didn't warn her, cause I didn't  
realise  
she was on the team.. And there I am.. Totally naked  
and dripping  
wet, when she walks in with her bag, her top  
and pants are just soaked with coffee and she's just staring  
at  
me. And my towel and clothes had been snitched while I  
was under the shower.."  
        "Did someone deliberately  
spill coffee on her?"  
        "Louis...  
He was the master at those pranks.. He and  
Jack well and truly  
set me up.. I thought once I got slimed  
I was safe.. But ooohnoo..  
It's not enough to slime me, they  
gotta take it one step further.  
When I started yelling at  
her to get out, there's this loud burst of laughter from  
outside the room, and the door was thrown open, and when I  
looked around the side off the stall, off went a camera, and  
there  
was Jack and Louis, laughing themselves to death with  
a few of  
the women *and* Welsh... And they all chorused,  
April Fools.. And ran off."          
        Fraser laughed.  
        "Except Welsh.  
He tossed his coat to Elaine, who threw  
it at me and bolted. They  
got me real good..And then just to  
add insult to indignity, Huey  
introduced me properly to  
Elaine the next day.. I couldn't stop blushing every time I  
ran  
into her for weeks.."  
        "Did you get your  
revenge?"  
        "Nah..  
They timed it just right.. There's a rule about  
how long you've  
got to pull a prank, and they pulled that  
one right on the line.. But Elaine got Louise good, for  
spilling his coffee all over her to get her into the  
showers.. She punched him smack bang right in the kisser."  
He said with a smile that faded away.  
        "Louis used to pull  
the dirtiest fools day tricks.. No  
one comes close.. It just isn't  
the same without him playing  
his dirty tricks."  
        "Tomorrow's April  
Fools.."  
        Ray  
looked at him.  
        "Maybe  
it's time you came up with a suitably dirty  
trick.. In Louis' memory."  
        "I could never pull  
a stunt like he did."  
        "Why  
don't you pull one *exactly* like he did.. With  
Huey."  
        Ray got a wicked smile.  
  


  |   |   |   | *ooOO0)=~=(0OOoo*   
---|---|---|---|---  
  
  
        Ray walked onto the porch  
a big garbage bag and a pail  
in hand and watched Fraser parking  
his Riv in the drive. He  
smiled and raced down the stairs as Fraser  
climbed out.  
        "I was wondering  
what happened to my baby," Ray said,  
patting the car.  
        Then he froze and stared  
at the roof of the car.  
        "Did  
you get everything we need."  
        Ray  
turned to look at him with an icy look.  
        "This  
is not *my* Riv."  
        "Of  
course it's your Riv."  
        =We  
had to scour wreckers yards to find all the parts  
to repair it  
and respray it so you wouldn't notice. How you  
knew...=  
        "Don't lie to me,  
Benni, I know my car, I know every  
little dint and scratch.. And  
this is not my car, for one  
thing.. It's paint job is too clean and fresh, there's no  
scratch on the roof."  
        He walked around the  
car, running his hand over it.  
        "No  
dint's in the places I know it had them.. The  
little scratches  
it got when I took it through those bushes  
are missing."  
        He looked at the licence  
plates.  
        "And  
it's got different plates."  
        "Allright..  
I confess. .Your car blew up."  
        "What?!"  
        "But we got  
you a new one to replace it," Fraser  
added hastily. "This  
one is truly mint condition. =Or it  
was till you crashed it= It  
was put into storage in 1972,  
and you are the only person to own it other than the  
original purchaser."  
        He reached in and popped  
the hood.  
        "Just  
look at that engine.. It's in absolute mint  
condition." =  
Thank god, all you damaged were the side  
panels and head lights..  
That and the windowscreens.=  
        Ray wandered back around  
and looked under the hood and  
dropped his bag and pail to lean  
on the radiator and get a  
better look.  
        "Migod.. I've never  
seen a Riv's engine this...  
Sparkling.."  
        "I told you it was  
in storage for 25 years.."  
        Ray  
looked up at him, then reached up for the hood.  
        "Alright.  
You're forgiven.. A near new Riv in as near  
to mint condition as  
a car can get is ..." He trailed off  
as he was lowering the  
hood, then pushed it back up and took  
a close look at the side  
of the interior panel, then at the  
other side.  
        "Absolute Mint Condition  
my Ass," Ray growled, and  
coughed as he slammed the hood down.  
        Fraser winced and backed  
up.  
        "It was  
in absolutely mint condition when we brought  
it for you, Ray. I  
swear."  
        "At least one of  
the side panels is not original, it's  
been resprayed! And the other  
side hasn't."  
        "Er.. We couldn't  
find a Green one.. All we could find  
was a Red one."  
        "Then one of those  
panels came off a green Riv. That  
means you did something to it."  
        Fraser sighed.  
        "I  
did not do anything to it. *You* were shot while  
you were driving  
it, and passed out behind the wheel."  
        Ray's hand flew to his  
head, and the faint scar there.  
Fraser nodded.  
        "The damage to the  
car was remarkably minimal.. A side  
panel.. headlights.. Windows..  
and drivers seat had to be  
replaced. The Engine and chassis were undamaged, and your  
cousin was able to find replacement parts in perfect  
condition by scouring wrecking yards.. And resprayed the  
whole car once he'd completed the repairs. No one would ever  
think  
this car was in an accident."  
        Ray collected his gear  
and popped the trunk to stow it  
away.  
        "When I crash it.  
It's a different story. You're  
forgiven."  
        Fraser relaxed and moved  
around the car to climb in  
while Ray closed the trunk. Climbing  
in Ray ran his hand  
over the dash and studied it, smiling, then his smile faded.  
        "There's  
no cigarette lighter, Benni," he growled.  
        Fraser  
sighed.  
        "You  
know how long it took me to find one for the  
other car."  
        "Don't worry.. I  
will find one.. This car's original  
lighter.. I believe I know  
who has it."  
        =Elaine.. I need to visit  
her and tell her you're home,  
safe, sound and with no memory of  
being with her, I can  
collect it then=  
        "Al, trying to be  
funny."  
        Fraser  
gave a weak smile.  
        "If  
we don't leave soon, we won't have time to set  
everything set up  
before the time limit runs out," Fraser  
pointed out.  
        Ray reached for the key's  
and started the car, then  
smiled, and ran his hands over the wheel.  
        "Oh yeah.. This  
baby purrs like a kitten."  
        Fraser  
relaxed and belted up. Ray followed his example  
before pulling  
out.  
          


  |   |   |   | *ooOO0)=~=(0OOoo*   
---|---|---|---|---  
  
  
        Huey stood under the  
shower washing away the remanets  
of the bucket load of manure Ray  
and Fraser had rigged over  
a door before he opened it to be splattered  
from head to toe  
with it. He didn't hear Ray sneaking across the  
room,  
because Ray took his shoes off and handed them to Fraser who  
was  
standing guard at the door.  
        He snitched Huey's towel  
and his bag, clothes and all,  
then crept back out of the room,  
and Fraser closed the door  
and dropped Ray's shoes to the floor.  
Ray slipped them on  
again and dashed off with Huey's things, while Fraser went  
in search of a cup of lukewarm hot chocolate and Francesca.  
          


  |   |   |   | *ooOO0)=~=(0OOoo*   
---|---|---|---|---  
  
  
        Welsh looked up as Ray  
burst into his office.  
        "What  
is it?"  
        "There's  
a fight going down in the locker room."  
        Welsh  
rose, grumbling and grumbled all the way through  
the building with  
Ray on his heels. Ray timed it just  
beautifully. The cluster of cops around the door to the  
men's shower which Fraser stood in front of were all  
witnesses to his turn at being Ray's fall guy.  
        "What's going on  
here?" Welsh demanded.  
        They  
all shrugged, and pointed at Ray.  
        "He  
told us to be here at 11.55 sharp."  
        Welsh  
looked at Ray, who grinned, then a shriek erupted  
from the showers,  
and Fraser threw open the door, and  
everyone clearly heard Huey yelling at Francesca to get out  
of  
the Men's shower. Ray whipped out a camera to take a  
photo, then high fived Fraser and Frannie raced out, her  
skimpy top and skirt covered with a dark chocolate brown  
stain, her face flaming, and Ray leaned into the room.  
        "Gotcha Jack!"  
        Then he looked up.  
        "Wherever you  
are Louis, that one's for you."  
        "Vecchio!  
You son of a.. What did you do with my towel  
and my clothes?!"  
        "The same thing  
you did to mine April First 94' I put  
them through the shredder."  
        "I didn't touch  
your clothes! That was Louis! You son  
of.."  
        "Ladies present,  
Jack."  
        Huey  
jumped back into the stall and there was laughter  
all round.  
        "I'll get you for  
this, Ray, just you wait!."  
        Ray  
looked at his watch, and then held it out pointing  
to it.  
        "Does every body  
see what the time is? It's 12.01 and  
that means.." he turned  
and looked right into the showers.  
"Pull a prank and spend  
the rest of the day in a cell."  
        "Oooohhh.."  
Huey growled, "You will pay.."  
        "Try  
it, Huey, and I'll toss you in a cell personally,  
You pulled the  
same prank on him with Louis.. Take it like a  
man," Welsh  
said.  
        "Oh he'll pay alright,  
but I don't have to do a thing.  
His sister will do it all for me."  
        Ray realised how right  
he was, then Fraser slapped him  
on the back.  
        "Gotcha."  
        Then he ran away. Ray  
spun as everyone, including Jack,  
laughed at him.  
        "Come back here,  
you dirty, rotten, double dealing,  
backstabbing, traitor,"  
Ray roared and bolted off in  
pursuit.  
        "I love it.. Louis  
couldn't have done it better,"  
Huey roared with laughter.  
          
  


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  |   |   |   |   |  The End   
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        Copyright April 26, 1998  
Red Skye  
        Standard  
disclaimers apply, Alliance owns the copyright  
of all Due South  
Characters that I didn't invent for this  
story, and I just borrowed their toys to play with them a  
little.  


  |   | *~~~~~~~~~~*ooOO0=@=0OOoo*~~~~~~~~~~*   
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